Truth and Honour

by Greg Marquis

  32Nicholas Köhler, “Murder and a maritime dynasty,” Macleans.ca, July 28, 2011, http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/murder-and-a-maritime-dynasty/; Tamsin McMahon, “After years of gossip and rumours, Oland charges may finally lead to answers,” Maclean’s, Nov. 12, 2012.

  33R v. Stillman [1997] 1 SCR 607.

  34April Cunningham, “‘We have to get it right’ Probe Richard Oland homicide investigation is ‘long and arduous’ to ensure case is airtight: police chief,” Telegraph-Journal, June 30, 2012, A1; CBC New Brunswick News, Aug. 16, 2012.

  35Dean Jobb, “Lifting the seal of search warrants,” J Source: The Canadian Journalism Project, Oct. 22, 2006, http://www.j-source.ca/article/lifting-lid-search-warrants.

  36Affidavit, Constable Stephen Davidson, June 7, 2011, Provincial Court of New Brunswick.

  37Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon, “Richard Oland murdered, search warrants reveal,” CBC New Brunswick News. Aug. 16, 2012.

  38April Cunningham, “Inside the Oland case; Crime Documents reveal police push for forensic evidence in the murder of prominent Saint John businessman,” Telegraph-Journal, Oct. 8, 2012, A1; Chris Morris, “Forensics critical in Oland probe,” Telegraph-Journal, Oct. 10, 2012, A1; April Cunningham, “Chief the face of Oland probe,” Telegraph-Journal, Oct. 11, 2012, A1.

  39Jennifer Pritchett, “Chief provincial court judge retires following a 43-year career in law,” Telegraph-Journal, Jan. 6, 2014, A3.

  40Kurt Peacock, “A Quiet Night on Canterbury Street,” Telegraph-Journal, Oct. 6, 2012, A10.

  41Editorial, Telegraph-Journal, Dec. 7, 2012, A10.

  Chapter 5

  A Person of Interest

  January 2013–December 2014

  In early January 2013, Chief Bill Reid promised that an arrest would be made for Richard Oland’s murder before the end of the year. He expressed confidence in his police service and stressed that prosecutors had asked investigators to tie “up loose ends” by speaking to more witnesses and waiting for “scientific reports.” Although homicide in Canada is exceedingly rare, representing under 1 percent of all violent crime, media coverage and commentary was still pressuring the SJPF. The final decision on laying a charge was not the purview of the police. Lead prosecutor John Henheffer had no comment on the Oland matter but did explain the policy of vetting and providing feedback on criminal investigations. One reason that New Brunswick has one of the highest conviction rates in Canada for adult defendants (77 percent in 2011–12) is its policy of pre-charge screening (where experienced Crown prosecutors examine the evidence in each case and make a recommendation as to whether or not it should proceed to court on the basis of their sense of a successful outcome.)1

  The SJPF continued to explain that its lack of press conferences and disclosures was standard procedure designed to ensure a successful investigation. In the community, people speculated it was the wealth and power of the family potentially involved or the inconclusive nature of the evidence that was delaying an arrest. Media scrutiny no doubt gave the case special urgency, which was not necessarily helpful for the investigation. As John Grisham’s gripping non-fiction study The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town suggests, police and prosecutors under demands to solve difficult murder investigations can produce costly mistakes.2

  In 2016, Val Streeter, a boyhood friend of Dennis, described the period between the crime and the arrest as “a waiting game…a slow form of water torture” for a man whose main concern supposedly was protecting his family. Dennis was a “wonderful caring father” who was involved with his kids. The stress in the family, beginning in 2011, was directly affecting his children, who had also lost their grandfather.3 In March 2013, Diana Sedlacek, who had relocated to Victoria, BC, posted the following on Facebook: “Living true to myself from my heart—2 years of breaking away—emerging into a world of possibilities.” None of her ensuing posts ever referred to the Oland tragedy.

  By the end of 2011, the SJPF had received only two laboratory reports from the RCMP Forensic Services Laboratory in Halifax, with nothing linking Dennis to the crime. Things began to change in 2012 when the lab, using the Profiler Plus technique, began to examine DNA deposits on Dennis Oland’s seized clothing. A March 1, 2012, report indicated there was a strong statistical probability of Richard Oland’s DNA being present in two spots on his son’s Hugo Boss jacket. Tests of the red grocery bag, the BlackBerry, and other articles of Dennis’s clothing such as shoes, a dress shirt, brown pants, and a pair of blue shorts, revealed nothing of forensic value. A report dated June 26, 2012, noted three more areas on the jacket that matched the DNA profile of the victim, but with a lower rate of probability. This report also confirmed that the blood swabs from the crime scene matched the DNA of Richard Oland and no “second bleeder.” The only exception within the Far End Corporation office was a stain on a banker’s box. This produced a profile labelled Male # 2, which belonged to either Robert or his son Galen McFadden. Galen’s profile (Male #3) also matched a swab taken from the bathroom sink. The younger McFadden gave a voluntary DNA sample in June 2013. The October 24, 2013, report covered more of the blood samples from the Far End Corporation office as well as swabs from the victim’s knuckles and palms. These revealed nothing of forensic interest. The exception was material from a swab of the sink and paper towel from the bathroom later determined to be a match with the DNA of Galen McFadden, who had been ruled out as a suspect. His profile was also found on the mouse of a computer the SJPF labelled P-11. The last two lab reports of 2012 suggested that another spot on the brown Hugo Boss jacket (on the outside back near the bottom) matched the DNA of Richard Oland. Testing of a cigarette butt supposedly seized as cast-off evidence from Dennis Oland provided no match, which suggested that the police had watched the wrong man.4 In May, 2013, under the authority of a court order, Constable David MacDonald obtained a buccal sample (cheek swab) from Dennis Oland.5

  Although the RCMP lab had detected that the victim’s DNA was on the suspect’s jacket (which allegedly he had worn on the day of the murder and which was then dry cleaned the following morning), the Crown, which approves all charges in New Brunswick, was being cautious. In November of 2012, it advised the SJPF that the investigation required more information and that certain exhibits needed additional testing before prosecutors were comfortable with proceeding. As would be revealed during the trial, the acquisition and testing of exhibits continued well after the arrest and even after the completion of the preliminary inquiry.6

  Some insights into aspects of the investigation would only became part of the public record in 2015 (and in 2016, when the publication ban was lifted on the preliminary inquiry). At one point, the SJPF sought advice from police in British Columbia on how to manage the investigation. For example, in March 2012, Sgt. Brooker emailed Vancouver Police Department Inspector Les Yeo on the topic of investigation strategies such as employing wiretaps and undercover officers, and there was mention of a planned conference call. During the preliminary inquiry, the lead investigator was asked by Miller about any planned operations based on listening to phone conversations, monitoring text messages, and tracking credit-card use. Davidson’s answer suggested that such an operation may have been considered but had not been put into effect, possibly because of the cost.7

  Early in 2013, Const. Coughlan was tasked with obtaining a cast-off DNA sample from Scott Laskey, a pallbearer at the victim’s funeral who was married to his niece Victoria Toward. Although a patrol officer, Coughlan had assisted with searches at the crime scene and at the wharf. Working alone, Coughlan monitored the subject, but attempts to acquire a sample on January 7, 8, and 14 failed. With the assistance of other officers, he managed to retrieve a cigarette used by Scott Laskey on January, 17, 2013, at Place 400 in the city’s North end. In December 2012, he had followed Robert McFadden for more than a week until he finally retrieved cast-off eviden
ce. In October 2013, the officer was tasked with monitoring Dennis Oland’s routine for a week.8

  In 2013, investigators continued, without any success, to try to track down the unidentified young Middle Eastern gentleman who had showed up at Printing Plus looking for help with a fax (and who was captured on a security camera parking his car). The SJPF had contacted the Pacific Language Institute in Vancouver looking for former student Bander Jemel Khalifa. The RCMP was also involved at some level. In January 2013, a landlord in Saint John identified the individual as a UNB Saint John student who had lived in Millidgeville. This took the investigation to UNB Saint John and Saint John College (the university’s language training institute). It appeared that Khalifa, who was never contacted, had returned to Saudi Arabia.

  As noted in the previous chapter, in 2012 lead investigator Davidson had made over two-hundred test calls from an iPhone 4 from nearly two dozen locations around Saint John and Rothesay. In January 2013, there was another series of field tests, in this case to determine the driving time between Saint John and Rothesay. Taking different routes and encountering varied traffic conditions, Davidson made more than a dozen test drives from Canterbury Street to Renforth Wharf and Gondola Point Road. On average, the drive to the wharf took fifteen minutes and the trip from the wharf to Oland’s home five minutes. Another interesting revelation from the preliminary inquiry was that sometime in 2013 the Crown had consulted with the respected veteran Moncton defence lawyer Scott Fowler to get an independent assessment of the case. This appears to be a highly unusual move in a murder prosecution in New Brunswick.9

  Prior to an arrest being made, three more lab reports arrived. An April 13 report, based on tests of a dress shirt seized from Dennis Oland’s bedroom and areas of the red shopping bag, revealed nothing incriminating. DNA profiles, for comparison purposes, had been established for William Adamson, husband of the victim’s secretary, Robert McFadden, and Scott Laskey. In June came another lab report. The buccal sample from Dennis Oland matched the profile Male # 1 (found on a pillow from the master bedroom). This report also listed more results (negative) of tests on a pair of pants and shorts belonging to Dennis and of a section on the Hugo Boss jacket labelled Al, the inside left cuff. This yielded a mix sample with the minor component having a not overly strong match with Richard Oland. The final report of 2013, produced in late August, confirmed Galen as the donor of profiles in the sink, on the paper towel, and the computer mouse.10

  The murder scene led to another legal matter in 2013, a small-claims case over who would pay for the cost of the cleanup. In order to deal with the presence of blood and other biological material, workers wore Hazmat suits. In April, Global News, which published photos of the repairs, reported that Far End Corporation had gone to court over the matter. The details were not divulged but it is probable that Far End (meaning Robert McFadden and Dennis Oland) was in dispute either with its own insurance company or that of building owner John Ainsworth. In the end, the matter was settled out of court.11

  In April, Judge Henrik Tonning had ordered that the sealed materials for the remaining search warrants be released to the counsel of Dennis Oland, Lisa Oland, Mary Beth Watt, and the estate of Richard Oland as well as the CBC and the Telegraph-Journal. None of the information could be published in the interim, but the various parties could not agree on which details should be redacted. On May 17, based on an earlier ruling by Justice Grant, a new set of released documents confirmed what public gossip had long speculated: Dennis Oland was the suspect in his father’s murder. The documents claimed that he had been “on the edge” financially in 2011. The police had seized more than fifty items from the suspect’s home, examined his computer, and reviewed video surveillance at his place of work. Judge Jackson refused to release any “hallmark” evidence that would be known only to the perpetrator of the crime. This included information relating to the crime scene and the condition of the victim’s body.12

  In September, Jackson authorized the release, for publication, of documentation stating that Constance Oland did not believe her son capable of physically harming his father. This was not search-warrant information, but the transcripts of the July 2012 hearings where both Crown and Oland family lawyers had opposed the release of warrant-related information. David Coles, on behalf of media outlets, had reminded the court that case law dictates the police are obliged to release warrant information after the fact. John Henheffer had opposed the release on behalf of the Crown, citing the need to insulate the investigation. Bill Teed had criticized the “frenzied media” for potentially damaging the privacy of his clients, the Oland family. Miller, acting for Dennis Oland, now identified to the public as a suspect, spoke of a “poison climate” created for his client. A police investigator had argued that all warrant-related information should remain sealed and that “innocent third-party witnesses” deserved to have their privacy protected.13

  An affidavit released to the media in September 2013 suggested that Richard and his son had a strained relationship. Richard’s widow, Constance, had described the victim as having “a very strong and controlling personality,” being “verbally and emotionally abusive,” and that all of her children had been affected.”14 Daughter Jacqueline Walsh had opined that her father “was the type of guy that some people got along with, and some people did not” and “could be very difficult to deal with at times.15 It was revealed that research on family history was one of the few positive points of contact between Dennis and his father. The document explained “it was the one thing they could have a conversation about and not fight.” Dennis explained that as the only son he “took most of the pressure” from Richard. The report recounted that the son claimed he had sought to avoid arguments with his father. The police considered Dennis the last known person to have encountered the victim before his death, when they met at the Far End Corporation office late on the afternoon of July 6, supposedly to discuss family history.16

  In October 2013, there was a final release of documents. Some hallmark evidence was still redacted (such as the times of Dennis’s visits to the office) but Jackson unsealed all DNA test results. These contained the dramatic allegation that DNA in bloodstains on a sports jacket seized from Dennis’s residence matched that of the victim. The unsealed documents also indicated that the victim’s cellphone was a key piece of evidence, but did not confirm if it was in the possession of the police. Another item police wanted kept under wraps was the grocery bag owned by the suspect. The released materials revealed that investigators contested Dennis’s claim that he had worn a blue blazer when he visited his father on the day of the murder. The release also confirmed that the SJPF had security-video footage, at least one eyewitness, and proof that some of Oland’s clothing had been dropped off at a dry cleaner in Rothesay. The transcript indicated that the police were not thrilled about the role of private investigators (possibly engaged by Miller), who allegedly had been contacting witnesses after they had spoken to the police. Davidson had told the court that witnesses “weren’t co-operative because they were approached by private investigators.” In his October 4 decision to release the 2012 hearing transcript, Judge Jackson noted that Miller had asked for all mention of private investigators to be removed from any unsealed documents as the public might make “unreasonable inferences” about his client.17

  Another interesting revelation was witness Barbara Murray’s statement about seeing a person who resembled Dennis “behaving strangely” at Renforth Wharf on the evening before the crime was discovered. Walking quickly, he allegedly had picked something off the ground and then gone to the wharf’s end where he appeared to remove an object from a red bag, wrap it around whatever he had picked up, place it back in the bag, and then leave. Murray had told police: “I knew it wasn’t right….There was a purpose to what he was doing, a real purpose.” The October release also revealed that Dennis had told police he had stopped at the wharf in case his kids were swimming there. The documents indicated that in
July 2011 divers checked the waters near the wharf for something that “would not have been in the water for a long period of time” but found nothing helpful to the investigation.18

  Following the October revelations, the two media outlets ceased their legal efforts to have more details from search warrants released. Their quest had added a new chapter to New Brunswick legal history. The media had been reporting that the chief motive in the crime, as identified in police documents, was financial. If Dennis was indeed the last person to see his father alive, this was potentially damaging evidence. As any number of true-crime television documentaries remind us, homicide investigators look for three factors when narrowing their list of suspects: motive, opportunity, and method. On the surface, Dennis matched at least two items on the checklist. He stood to gain financially from his father’s death and had an antagonistic relationship with the victim, and he was the last known person to see his father alive. The blood evidence, if reliable, may have covered the method category, but investigators would have preferred to find the murder weapon and more trace evidence. UNB law professor Nicole O’Byrne explained that although the evidence in the Oland case by this point appeared to be largely circumstantial, this was not necessarily a weakness for a prosecutor.19

  In a move that may have tempted fate, on November 9, Dennis changed the profile picture on his Facebook page to a bearded Harrison Ford in the 1993 movie The Fugitive, inspired by the 1960s television series about a doctor wrongfully convicted of killing his wife.20 On November 10, Chief Reid told a radio station that a suspect would be apprehended before year’s end. That same day, Dennis was arrested, according to the Globe and Mail, “near his tony Rothesay, N.B. home.”21 The arrest was far less exotic, taking place at the King’s II Carwash, a self-service operation located in the Rothesay commercial strip across the street from Richard Oland’s grave. The suspect supposedly was “very emotional” during the arrest. Grainy surveillance video indicated that Oland had just started washing a green SUV when a marked SJPF car, along with two unmarked vehicles, arrived and blocked his exit. Officers put Dennis’s hands behind his back, placed him in handcuffs, and escorted him to one of their vehicles. A few minutes later, a Rothesay Regional Police Force cruiser showed up. The Telegraph-Journal, which obtained a copy of the video from the operator of the car wash, revealed that officers searched the front and back of the SUV and appeared to find nothing significant. After the search was completed, one of the officers drove the vehicle out of the car-wash bay.22 The police chief later explained that Crown prosecutors had signed off on a murder charge three weeks earlier. Oland, according to Reid, “was brought in to have a conversation.” The nature of that interview was not revealed at the preliminary inquiry or trial but is no doubt buried in a mountain of disclosure evidence. What the public did not know at this point was that the day after the murder in 2011, Dennis had been subjected to a five-hour interrogation.23